Page 14 - Microsoft Word - EAIE_Anniversary_book_Final.docx

important service. Nurturing, sustaining, deepening and extending these relationships to

include groups in other parts of the world can only lead to increased understanding of the
international and intercultural issues embedded within approaches to internationalisation in
the core area of teaching and learning. It is critical that discussion, debate and action in
these areas do not occur in isolation in a world that is increasingly interdependent and

connected in all other areas. Our shared future depends on such understanding and
international and intercultural communities of practice have an increasingly important role to

play in shaping the future landscape of internationalisation and student learning.

Sustaining and expanding these networks, ensuring that these communities are truly global,

is important because the inclusion of diverse perspectives is at the core internationalisation
of the curriculum. It also has the potential to enrich conceptual and practical developments.

Conclusion

Globalisation has contributed to increasing the gap between the rich and the poor of the
world, and the exploitation of the ‘South’ by the ‘North’. This domination can also be seen as

‘intellectual’, the dominance of Western, mostly Anglo Saxon, educational models defining
what is knowledge, what research questions are asked, who will investigate them, in which

language results will be presented and how they will be applied. The dominance of the
English language has led to the misconception that an international and intercultural
dimension in the curriculum depends on the use of that language.

Increasingly Internationalisation of the curriculum is being considered in the context of the
disciplines in a globalising, interconnected world. This allows the internationalisation of

teaching and learning to take on a different dimension. An internationalised curriculum for all
students is a way of engaging those who might otherwise not have the opportunity to
develop critical skills, knowledge and attitudes for life and work in a globalised world. This is

a matter of equity and as such, also a matter of necessity.

Taking account of the diversity in their classrooms, the global nature of scholarship and the
global value placed on collaborative teaching and research as well as the graduate attributes
that business and industry are calling for amidst a rapidly changing national environment

requires considerable intellectual and physical effort. This is where international networks
and partnerships can be a good mechanism for engaging faculty.

14